The Loyal Opposition
by latetothpartyhp
Summary: Future fic. Spoilers through Pandora. Chloe's on a mission for the resistance.
1. Chapter 1

_"There is such a thing as loyalty," said Jane._

_"There is, Ma'am," he said. "As you get older you will learn that it is a virtue too important to be lavished on individual personalities."_

- C.S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength

"If you get the chance, take care of Tess while you're in there," Oliver had said. "I don't trust Lex with her if this goes as planned."

"Of course," she'd answered. "You want me to pick up some milk or cat litter on my way home, too?"

He'd given her a chagrined smile. She'd returned it. It'd all been good. Now she thought she had not been grateful enough for his faith in her. He had believed she could do this. She wished she could believe it herself. She had thought she could -- even when joking yesterday about how she might not return. Today, shuffling down the hall in shackles -- lead shackles; Bette's stunt last spring must have had an impact -- fear pulsed with every heartbeat, gnawed at her navel, thickened her throat. The fear angered her. If she died she wasn't going to go yellow, dammit.

She focused on the anger, on the clear metallic hardness of it. She remembered what it was like to be a prisoner. She remembered there would be no one to rescue her this time. If her mission went south, they could not risk losing anyone else to get her out. They should not have to lose anyone else to get her out. She would do this thing.

They turned the corner. Chloe recognized the painting flanking the double-doors. Not the artist or the title, that was Lana's thing, but she knew it by sight. Their overlord either shared Lex's tastes, or maybe he just didn't give a damn. If the former, it could be an omen, she thought. Of what, she did not know. That was Madelyn's thing. She was not Madelyn. No matter what.

One of the door-guards nodded and she was shoved through, quadriceps, shoulders, jaw all shaking. Show time.

She had maybe fifteen seconds to see that not much had changed in the library either, then the heavy force of the guard's rod on the backs of her thighs buckled her to the floor, kneecaps screaming against the tiles. A large hand seized her neck from behind and shoved her forward so quickly she didn't have time to tense. Her head slammed to the floor. Instant, obliterating pain exploded in her head and lungs. She sucked at whatever air she could until her brain had enough oxygen present to wonder whether Jor-El had made them all tele-paths now. The whole plan depended on making eye-contact. She had to be able to look at him. There was enough air now to howl, and she did. Madelyn, you stupid cow! Where are you goddammit?

No answer came. Not that she expected one. She didn't expect Madelyn to commit to a body that would shortly be burned to a crisp. So she crouched, alone, on the library floor, gasping pain and fear and hate. Hate for her weakness, hate for their strength. All the rage Lana had warned her not to let have sway.

Well, fuck that. And fuck Lana, too. She'd always been the biggest belly-acher of them all.

Steps sounded against the tile, firm yet quiet, a heavy body in rubber lugged outsoles. She rolled her so far left she was practically looking inside her own skull and saw an incongruous pair of work boots coming toward her. He hadn't needed steel toes, but he'd always been a creature of habit when it came to his clothes.

"Sit her up," he said. The large hand grabbed her shoulder and jerked her upright. If she lived she would probably develop whiplash from that. Of course, if she lived it wouldn't be her problem. Liquid ran out of her nose and down her chin. She didn't look to see what color it was. He was staring at her, hard and proud. Her quads and chin began to shake again. Concentrate said Lex's voice in her head, and with it she felt her purpose gather.

"Chloe Sullivan," he said. She opened her mouth to reply, but he continued almost immediately. "You have been brought here today accused of treason, conspiracy and crimes against humanity. The penalty for all these is death, and it is death you surely deserve. Not only did you betray society and your race, but you betrayed me, as well."

He stopped, overcome by emotion perhaps? Perhaps for another reason. Wild hope flared. He frowned. Oh please let Lex be right. Let him be right. She stared back at him with all her might. She had one chance at this.

"You were my friend once, Chloe. My dearest friend. You have no idea what you were to me. And I have no idea what you have become now. Something I don't even recognize. But you were my friend once." He crouched before her, his face so close she could see the trail of mucus on her face reflected in his pupils, smell the soap on his skin. "That means something to me, even if it doesn't to you. It means your life may be spared. I can save you, Chloe. You don't have to die."

She could barely breathe. It was as if a wild animal were inside her, desperate to escape the cage of her body. She forced herself not to blink, not to lose his gaze.

"What do you want from me?" she whispered. This time she was obviously supposed to ask. He smiled indulgently; for a bizarre moment she thought she was looking at Jonathan Kent. Then he spoke, and the moment passed.

"You know what I want to know," he whispered in return. "Tell me where Lana is. Help me find her, and I can help you."

The animal broke free -- Chloe squeezed her eyes shut and tensed. Madelyn. Back off, bitch. You're not done yet. The animal snarled, but receded.

"Chloe?"

She popped open her eyes and prayed the spirit had not ruined everything in her bid for control. She swallowed. Nodded.

"I'll tell you everything I can. I swear. Whatever you want to know."

His fingers brushed her cheek. She didn't bother to hide her tears. He would expect her to be relieved.

"I know you will Chloe."

She repressed a giggle -- whose, she wasn't sure. Of course Lex had been right. When wasn't he? _How now, stupid cow?_ She asked the pissy spirit. _What do you say we go save Tess?_


	2. Chapter 2

"That thing is disgusting."

The clone frowned at her, then turned to Lex, petulant. He smiled at it through the oxygen mask.

"Manners, Lana. Some gratitude would be more becoming. She was created to protect you. You used her sister to that purpose once, if I recall."

"Isn't it fortunate that I no longer need protection, then."

"You may be invulnerable, but you're still immensely valuable. You made sure of that when you destroyed Dr. Grohl's research. If you hadn't – well. We wouldn't need to have this conversation now, would we?"

She let every bit of the contempt she felt show on her face. If she hadn't destroyed Grohl's research they would be organizing a resistance to fight Lex and he damn well knew it. She wouldn't let herself get trapped in one of his verbal mazes though.

"What do you want? I assume you didn't summon me here to wax nostalgic."

"No, I did not." He turned to the clone then. "You have your orders," he told it. The clone turned and smirked at her before walking out. That her face was capable of such an expression made her skin crawl. "She's so supportive," Lex continued. "A man gets to a point in his life when he wants a partner who understands the importance of his work."

"She's not your partner. She's not even a person. She's an unauthorized copy you programmed to submit to your every whim."

"Not a person? And here I thought your compassion extended to all sentient beings."

She gritted her teeth. He was always like this when it was just the two of them. She would not let it get to her.

"Should I go back to the useful work of attempting to decipher code, or are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"See, there's your problem Lana. You were always so demanding. No one wants to be with a woman who's always telling him what to do."

She drew a deep breath. She would not get caught up. She would not let this spiral into insults.

"I am _asking_, Lex, to what end did you have me come here. I don't think that's an unreasonable question."

"Patience. I think you've forgotten how slowly the rest of us must operate. Pamela's made contact. I've sent Nadia out to the rendezvous point."

She choked. He'd _what_? "That was not the plan! You do not get to make last-minute changes. Not without approval from the rest of us."

"Chloe and Oliver did approve. Three out of four constitutes a majority. We all agreed you are too valuable to be exposed until necessary. Nadia will run that risk in your place."

She ignored the fact that a vote called without her presence did not count. She was too appalled by the insanity. "Have you lost your mind? You've just guaranteed exposure! He will know in an instant she's an impostor."

"We have composed a plausible cover to explain the lack of radiation."

"A cover? You have her working as some kind of covert agent?"

"In a manner of speaking. Clark never could resist that body of yours."

If he only knew. The irony would not be lost on Lex, but she would never confide that to him. His body might have been twisted only recently, but his mind had been sick for much, much longer. She should have known he would think up something like this. She should have stopped this, stopped the others before it began, stopped them from making contact. She could. But what would that make her if she did?

"Clark loved me," she replied. "That thing you've just sent out is not me."

"Please. You know better than anyone Clark never knew _you_ for what you really are. I can only imagine that clinging to his girl-next-door image of you was why he was able to stand your company for as long as he did. He'll see what he wants to see. As always."

It was a full minute before she was able to get herself under control, before she could speak. Anger bubbled up and cascaded down, only to be sucked back up and splash out again. She felt it rise and foam. She would ride it like a horse, feel it surge under her. But she would control it. She would not let it control her.

"You're right," she said finally. "I'm not the girl in the pink headband anymore. None of are what we were. Especially not Clark. He is one of them now. It's a dangerous assumption to think his priorities will be what they were before."

It was Lex's turn for silence. That was new. She acknowledged the tiny feeling of triumph that gave her.

"Chloe's still alive," he said. "That says something."

"It says you trust the word of your pet psychic – who in turn, assuming she's not lying to you, trusts the word of a criminally psychotic dead witch. I can't believe you of all people don't question this scenario."

"You were speaking of assumptions earlier. Madelyn's greed is a pretty safe one. She wouldn't have been a very good flunky to your family if she wasn't. She knows the terms of the deal, and the deal states that she stays in communication with Pamela."

Lana frowned. She was still raw from his earlier comment. She reminded herself upteenth insult he'd thrown at her didn't matter, but what he'd done with Chloe did. She had no idea what it was or why Chloe had agreed to go along with it, or what her ancestor's crazy follower stood to get out of it. It had been another info-bomb dropped at the last minute, and she didn't think they would have said anything if Ollie had not started to make threatening noises. You'd think she would have learned by now.

"If it's not too demanding, may I ask what else the deal states?" Not that he would tell her.

"You may not. You may, however, assist me with a few, uh, functions. My usual nurse is on a mission to bring down the enemy, so I find I need your help." Her face must have reflected her disgust; his smirk through the mask looked satisfied. "I thought someone with your strong spiritual practice would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate caring? But maybe not."

The caring move would be to throw him out the window... out into the wild _red_ yonder. They needed him, still. She sighed. "I assume that means you need to take a piss? I'm flattered you consider me worthy to approach that part of your anatomy again."

His smirk widened. "Oh, it is so much worse than that."

She sighed. Again. With Lex it always was.


	3. Chapter 3

Now Chloe waited.

Tess had been sent with a small band of human collaborators and a Kryptonian to shepherd them. That worried her. It was Lana, after all. _Lana_. She had been sure he'd dash off to the given coordinates without another thought. She'd tried, when she realized he did not mean to drop everything and go himself, to "suggest" that he do so but he'd already begun issuing orders.

At some point in the last year he'd learned caution. From what or whom was an interesting question. One for which she had no answers, no data, no guesses. She was the first person they'd been able to plant inside, and it killed her that she had no way but Madelyn to communicate the situation.

Not that she had much to report. Two days passed without her being summoned. She spent both of them in a tiny room in the basement beneath the kitchens she was pretty sure had once been a pantry. There was no window, but no lock on the door either. She couldn't believe that in all the Luthor mansion they didn't have someplace more specific and high-tech to keep her. Of course, they probably didn't think she was much of a threat.

The thought rankled. She tried not to dwell on it, but there wasn't much to distract her. She had never been very physically intimidating; her strength had always been her mind, but now there was nothing for her mind to do. Of course they wouldn't need a lock. Without information she was nothing.

And the irony was that she wasn't even entirely sure what she was supposed to be learning. Lex had never been specific about what was to happen once she "revealed" Lana's location:

"Resistance 101: Never tell an agent anything she doesn't need to know."

"That makes me sound awfully expendable."

"It also makes you sound competent to improvise."

"Which means I'm fish-food, aren't I? Well, as long as I can take out as many of them as I can with me."

"That's the spirit!"

Between not knowing her own team's plan and not knowing the enemy's plan she wanted to jump up and down on her little cot screaming. She settled for pacing, instead. She walked a marathon in that pantry.

The one glaringly obvious truth to this situation was that Lana might very well not survive. She'd purposefully suppressed the thought, but after a few hours of crawling the walls she couldn't ignore it any longer. That Clark had sent Tess and a Kryptonian rather than go himself pointed to assassination rather than capture. Of course, capture had its downside as well. The trial and execution of a known Resistance leader would have a demoralizing effect on whoever still cared about something besides grubbing for food. Either scenario probably meant the opposite of a long and full life for her.

Oh, who was she kidding? Even if some pig collaborator or Kryptonian ditto-head didn't get her, she knew Lex would not allow the likes of Madelyn loose on the world. She'd known that from the beginning leaving the mansion would be the end. And yet ... now that she was safely imprisoned in her lock-less door, with only one human standing between her and escape, down from her adrenaline high and past imminent danger, knowing she could be summoned at any moment, that she might see Clark again at any moment: she wanted to live. She couldn't help it.

She had never loathed herself as much as she did with realization.

Maybe, she thought, sitting on the cot and bundling herself into a ball, maybe it would help if she stopped thinking of him as "Clark", started thinking of him by his Kryptonian name. When she thought "Clark" she could close her eyes and remember the boy who'd kissed her in the hallway freshman year, cried over Martha's miscarriage, worn Jonathan's watch, changed Evan's diapers and got Maddie to talk. Thinking about "Clark" left her here, curled up on her cot and crying.

"Kal-El", on the other hand – who was he? He was as alien to her as his biology was to earth. Her bones did not turn to water, her breath did not quicken, her heart did not shatter at that name. Instead there was choking, trembling fear and anger. _Anger will control you if you don't control it,_ Lana said in her head. _Act in anger and you will make mistakes you can never unmake._ Lana would know.

So would she, though. She had made a mistake once in anger and it felt as though she had spent the rest of her life trying to unmake it. She had held on so hard, for so long, in jealousy and in contrition, in sickness and in health, for better and for worse. Now it was much, much worse, and she still struggled to let go. She would never be worthy now. She was human. He was not.

On the third day when the guard entered she was balanced in Ardha Chandrasana.

"You will come with me," he said.


	4. Chapter 4

She was led through the halls without shackles. A sign the hocus-pocus had had an effect, or confirmation they didn't think she was dangerous? She was calm enough now to accept either possibility. Both worked to her advantage. She might never lose the palsy and step into the waiting car, but she would still get away with it.

_Just keep telling yourself that, Sullivan_.

The alien -- and there was no other way to put it, the terms of _Kal-El_'s "truce" had made it abundantly clear all humanoids were not created equal -- who walked ahead of her and her keeper came to the library doors and turned. He jerked his head and the human guard -- she'd never asked his name and he'd never given it; in her head she called him Percy -- took up a position to the left. The Kryptonian opened the right door and jerked his head again -- at her, she thought. Probably she was supposed to follow him in. Inside, he moved to the pool table and turned, facing the fireplace. There were no further jerks of the head; he'd evidently said all he needed to say. In the interest of appearing cowed, she walked over and stood next to him. The table was slightly dusty, which gave her an odd sense of satisfaction. The thought of aliens shooting pool on Lex's table was obscene.

Chloe didn't know how long they stood there; her sense of time had been scrambled the last few days. At just the point she started to feel antsy with the anticipation the guard actually spoke. "Kneel," he told her, and when she finished jumping she did. Heart hammering in her throat, she focused on the painful press of her kneecaps. Like the hard anger of her first interview it was clarifying, bringing all the screaming mental panic to one single point. In a moment, she heard the terrace door open and Clar -_Kal-El_ 's footsteps behind her.

"We have her," he announced, coming to face her. "Your information was incomplete, however."

This is when she was supposed to start improvising, she guessed.

"I told you everything I know."

"You didn't tell me Lana no longer had her powers."

Well. Fuck. They would all need to start improvising now.

She focused on the knees, kept her mind on the pain to keep her heart-rate down. Kal-El could not hear it, but the other one could.

"I didn't know." Which was the most honest thing she'd said in nearly a week now. What the hell had happened?

"But you knew where she was likely to be."

"I knew where she had based herself, we've been in contact, but I haven't seen her in months."

"When was the last time you did see her?"

_When they question you, and they will, begin by telling them what they already know_, Lex had said. She thought of the last mission she'd shared with Lana and shivered. One of the aliens had nearly apprehended her; without the one-two punch of the Krypto-suit and the Lana-fu Chloe would not be kneeling before him today.

"The day at the Watchtower," she said.

"When you attempted to intercept our signal."

When they _had_ intercepted the signal, but she nodded. Not that they had been able to decompile much of the code, but if this didn't work -- No. This would work. Whatever _this_ was.

"Your attempt was foolish. Even if you had succeeded, you cannot read Kryptonian." He smiled a little, and again Chloe had the eerie sensation she was looking at Jonathan.

One more thing she certainly did not need to lie about.

She nodded again. "We overreached. It was misguided of us."

"That was the last time you physically saw Lana?"

"Yes." She stared at him with what she hoped was an imploring he believe her? She couldn't afford to tell him anything more. Madelyn had said that after awhile he would want to believe. The problem with Madelyn's little trick, though, was that it could only work on one person at a time. Chloe had no idea what the Krypto-cop at her side thought of all this. She could only hope he was stupid enough not to hear her lie.

"We'll see if your story can be corroborated. Let them in," he told the guard, then straightened and turned to the hallway doors. He looked resolute and determined, even regal in that pose. Of course kings were probably too primitive by Kryptonian standards, Chloe thought; no doubt the Science Council preferred the term "dictator in perpetuity". The guard opened the doors and a bedraggled Tess marched in, followed by a gaggle of human quislings, a tall alien woman and, crouched over a pair of lead shackles -- Lana Lang.


	5. Chapter 5

The guard resumed his former position and Chloe let her heart rate go wild. She was currently kneeling in the most direct path between a super-powered alien and the woman who had been at the top of the planet's _Most Wanted_ list for the last year and a half; she could be forgiven a little lack of control. Of course, if _Kal-El_ was right, Lana was no longer a threat to anyone. _Please let him be wrong. Please, please, please._

The woman with a warrant for her arrest in 294 "provinces" across the globe looked up. _She_ managed imploring just fine. Imploring with a whiff of melting and a strong bottom note of helplessness. She was offering either complete surrender or the most masterful female stage performance since Cleopatra rolled out of her rug. Her lids fluttered. "Clark," she breathed, and the butt of the alien guard's rod thumped over her head. She gasped and crumpled, a flower trodden underfoot.

"Enough!" he shouted, moving to her almost as quickly as if he still had super-speed. Lana turned her lifted her teary eyes up to him, gratitude shining through. "It's obvious her powers are gone. It's beneath you to injure her this way Alera."

The Kryptonian woman's face hardened, but it was Tess who replied. "She is still a known criminal. We must question her. It does no good to coddle her like one of the children."

"I will question her," he replied. It was obvious to Chloe, and doubtless anyone else paying attention, Tess was not happy to hear that. It was odd seeing her grimace, and Chloe realized suddenly Tess was the only person -- well, the only person besides Lana -- Chloe had seen in his presence who showed real emotion. The others were soldiers on assigned duty, but Tess acted as if she expected to be heard. It was the first time since her own arrest that Chloe had had the chance to observe her, and beneath her now-default layer of fear she was shocked. Tess was human. They had all assumed _Secretary of Planetary Security_ was an empty title, a bit of kabuki their new rulers had made up to distract attention from the rest of their "treaty". It appeared they had been wrong.

Tess nodded, though, despite her evident unhappiness. She was not, after all, herself _El Presidente_. "Of course. Remember, though, we are all anxious for your safety and we still don't know what happened to her."

"She can harm no one now," he answered, but it was Lana he was looking at. His eyes were soft. Glancing back at Tess, Chloe could have sworn she saw a muscle twitch in the other woman's jaw.

Chloe felt an ironic sense of solidarity with her. Tess was not the only one who wanted answers, and they would not be forthcoming if they let this devolve into a session of eye-sex. Or actual sex. Now that they were both de-powered, _Kal-El _might have other priorities. He had obviously not reviewed his _Evil Overlords' Handbook_ prior to accepting his position. While Lex could have probably made use of the situation by offering his services as wedding coordinator and then planting a bomb in the bouquet, Chloe was not so patient.

"Kal-El," she said, praying fervently that was the correct mode of address from lowly prisoners to this particular absolute ruler. Whatever deity was listening took pity on her, as the absolute ruler turned to looked at her. "If I may make a suggestion? I also believe she should be questioned now. As I said earlier, Lana had all her powers on our last mission. She may have simply found a way to neutralize the meteorite radiation. It could be a trap." She drew a huge breath. "Question her now, and I can verify at least some of her story." A suggestion that made no sense at all, but since he'd not done the recommended reading maybe he wouldn't realize it. Besides which, hadn't that been the whole point of her and Lex's little seance of horrors? Madelyn could make the nonsensical possible. They hoped.

From the corner of her eye, Chloe could see Tess' hard, narrow gaze on her. Chloe only had eyes for Kal-El, though. The last word she'd exhaled could be her very last ever if she looked away. He'd worn a confused little frown as she spoke, but his face cleared as she ended. He nodded.

"You're right. We should verify both your stories. Alera, have your crew clean up and then report for debriefing." One of the humans walked to the doors and held one open for Alera and the others. Chloe took another deep breath, relishing the oxygen, calming the jubilation. She felt giggly again, from the adrenaline or from Madelyn she didn't know. She could sense the witch pressing on her consciousness, wanting in, wanting to relish every moment of bending the most powerful being on earth to her will.

_Pipe down. You've got a whole room full of other people to charm. Like the red-haired bitch over there. She'd have this head off this body faster than you can say bibbity-bobbity-boo if you don't watch it._

Chloe felt Madelyn's presence recede. Hopefully she realized a dead Chloe meant no more fun. And hopefully Tess had not noticed anything out of the ordinary. She was staring at Chloe through hooded eyes, and Chloe could see the questions in them. Her outburst had served Tess' purpose, but Tess wasn't stupid. A turncoat rebel kneeling on the floor should not have that much influence over the great and mighty Kal-El.

"May _I_ suggest," Tess said, "that the prisoners be questioned separately? I think we'll have a better chance of getting the truth out of them if they don't hear one another's responses." She had done her reading, it seemed. Well, now Chloe knew who was putting the brakes on Mr. Kent's wild ride. Except Chloe needed the car to crash, burn, explode. Wait - Madelyn had done something at her 18th birthday party, something like the magical equivalent of spiking the punch. Chloe'd had no idea what it was, but even as she remembered she felt Madelyn re-surge. If Madelyn would give it to her, if she could --

"Take Chloe then. I'll speak to Lana," said Kal-El.


	6. Chapter 6

Chloe bit her lips between her teeth to keep from screaming. She was rigid with unspent tension and the sudden absence of Madelyn, who had fled as quickly as she'd returned. Forget Oliver, she thought. Let Lex do his worst.

Of course right now Tess herself still looked angry in a smooth, acquiescent sort of way. Leaving Kal-El alone with Lana did not suit her at all, but the decision had been made.

Well served the bitch right. What was going on between the two of them, anyway? Was the hair sending some kind of Oedipal signal? Had she conjured a 16th century witch of her own?

The hair in question was tossed and Tess gave a brief nod to the Kryptonian guard. Again with the head signals. Did no one on the security team ever talk to one another? The guard seized Chloe's elbow and gently hoisted her to her feet. Her knees screamed, and she staggered; she wondered if the guard knew his hold on her was the only thing keeping her upright. She just had time to notice Kal-El lifting Lana and setting her on one of the couches next to the fire-place before she was rushed out the doors behind a determined-looking Tess.

Chloe swallowed. _Remember what I said, Maddie-girl. This head off this body._

She and the guard followed Tess to a room at the end of the hall, smaller than the library but with equally large windows that had once overlooked the garden. That had changed, if nothing else had. Few plants had survived the spectrum shift.

"They call this room the solar," Tess announced, as if she were a realtor and Chloe a prospective buyer. Tess moved to the windows while the guard took the usual position by the door, watching Chloe while Tess watched the dead landscape. "I believe it served as a drawing room for the ladies of the family at one time."

"The Luthor ladies?" She had no idea where Tess was going with this, but if Tess wanted to be chatty, Chloe could chat. If Tess wanted to dance the watusi Chloe could do that too. She just wished the woman would turn around.

"No, the original builders, the MacLeod ladies. The house was part of their parish. I don't believe Lillian spent much time in this room. Her health was so poor. And after Lillian, there was no lady of the house until Lex married. You know how that turned out. Or should I say, 'those'? Women don't last very long in this house." With that she finally looked back, her mouth twisted somewhere between contempt and amusement.

"But you have," Chloe answered. Tess' face relaxed into a pleasured surprise. _Oh please_. She'd been tangling with Luthors when Tess was still swimming with dolphins. On the other hand, she realized, it wasn't only the mansion's women Tess had out-lasted. Lionel was dead. Lex was a cripple and exile. Zod had disappeared. But here Tess stood, taking her ease in the solar. The woman was a quick study.

"Yes," said Tess. "I'm still here. And now, so are you." She took a seat at a small table next to the window, waving her hand at the chair across. "I'm just dying to know how it is you got here."

Chloe pulled out the chair and took a moment to settle herself. "I took the interstate to the county road" was the tempting answer, but counter-productive. She'd dismissed Tess as a high-ranking party flak the moment she'd met her, but her attitude was going to need an adjustment if she wanted to leave this room on her own steam. She had to focus. "I assume," she replied, her eyes glued to Tess', "that means you want the five W's of the resistance."

Tess shrugged. "I doubt you have the big scoop. The resistance has their agents," she smiled, "and we have ours."

Chloe remembered the alien in the room and concentrated on her breathing. No. No way. No _f__uc__king_ way. Who? Who did Tess want her to think would turn? _Take care of Tess while you're in there._ Ollie? Could Ollie do that? Would he want back in Tess' pants badly enough? She shut the thought down. It was possible. It was also possible the woman was just trying to mess with her mind. She was going to have to put more effort into it than that, Chloe decided.

"And therefore you needed me to walk in here and pin-point Lana's location for what reason?"

Some of the contempt crept back into Tess' face. "Obviously her movements were made privy to only a select few. Any covert group worth the description would limit that kind of information. And you all have been covert. Your group has a certain -- what? Signature, shall we say, I recognize from previous associations." You don't con a con man, her expression seemed to say. "No. What I really want to know is why you thought it was a good idea to waltz into the Metropolis security station and surrender."

_  
__After you tell them what they know, when you've established you're not a liar, then you tell them what they want to hear,_ Lex had said. "It's done," Chloe said. "The implosion in Bamiyan convinced me of that." The massacre in Bamiyan, she thought, but calling it that wouldn't get her anywhere.

"You're saying martyrdom isn't your style?"

"I'm an agnostic."

"Which means you're either lazy or a coward."

"It means I'm open to the fact that reality may not conform to my thoughts about it." _You there, Maddie-girl?_

"Our team leader said he counted 932 skeletons in those caves after the collapse. You're telling me the deaths of 932 people convinced you your thoughts that, and I quote, 'The Kal-El regime will never bring peace, only more genocide' were wrong?"

_Wake UP Madelyn. We need to convince her that my _words_ are right -- right now!_ She took a moment, as if to gather her thoughts, breathed deeply. With Kal-El, it had been easy -- easier, at least. They'd known what he wanted. She'd been on the money with her pig guard, too; the man had turned traitor for belly and bullying, which is probably why he hadn't been told anything important. What did crazy-ass Tess Mercer want besides the never-ending reign of Kal-El?

She looked back at Tess, smiled weakly. "I see you're a fan of my work." Tess smirked in return. Eye contact. Focus. Lose the attitude. Where was all the fear when she needed it? Deep breath. "Bamiyan convinced me that the answer to people dying is not more people dying. We aren't going to get out of this hole if we keep digging. Especially not when nature," she choked out the word, "is doing such a damn fine job of solving the over-population problem. I surrendered because I want to stop. I want the dying to stop. And I hope my surrender will encourage others to stop as well."

"I doubt that," Tess said. "But they may be inspired to give up the good fight when you are tried and executed."

Chloe felt her saliva thicken, felt how hard it was becoming to swallow. She felt fear now, nestled just below her ribs in the general vicinity of where her stomach had once sat. Not the fear that quickened, but the fear that killed. She had guessed wrong. Tess didn't want to hear how wrong Chloe thought she had been. Ok. So no more guessing. She was dead anyway. Might as well get straight to the point.

"Is that what you want? You want to see me dead?"

She never took her eyes from Tess' but Chloe could see the expression around those eyes changing. A flit of a question, then a softening, sarcasm and disdain melting into openness. She looked younger, and even tentative; Chloe's one thought besides surprise was that if this was the kind of vulnerability she projected for Kal-El then what she'd seen in the library between them was no surprise at all.

"What I want?" She seemed to give the question actual thought, as if she wasn't sure. "What I want -- is justice."

Justice? What could that possibly mean to Tess Mercer? No time to think, though. Two queens on the table and no choice whether to stay or take the hit.

"Justice is all I've ever wanted too," Chloe said quietly.

"I'd guess we define justice differently," Tess answered, but she seemed ... distant. Her eyes were focused vaguely on the hideous porcelain vase in the center of the table. With gaudy castings of pink peonies and red birds stuck all over it, Chloe was surprised it had survived the Great Lana Purge of 2007. It must have also been hideously expensive to do that. Tess, however, seemed fascinated by it. She picked it up and stared hard first at the birds, then at the empty interior before finally setting it down.

_Okaaaaaay._

"But," Tess resumed, as if nothing had happened, "as entertaining as it would probably be, a trial may not be the best use for you. And have been remarkably useful at times. Kal-El told me how you stopped him from imprisoning Davis Bloom in the Phantom Zone. I can't tell you how much I appreciated that."

"I aim to please," said Chloe with a breathy little laugh. She hoped that seemed appropriate. She hadn't been able to help herself. What had just happened? More Madelyn hoodoo or had Tess finally fallen into the deep end of the pool?

Tess gave her a little smile. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"None. Well, I remember the incident in question. I just never realized keeping Davis free was important to you. I mean, you tried to blow him up. You sent assassins after him."

"I sent assassins after you. Not very bright assassins, as it turns out. But I admit I had no idea a threat to you would cause him to react that way. And at the time I was distracted by a lead that went nowhere. I'm sure you remember how frustrating that can be."

Tess was a master of deflection. Chloe had to give her that. But she was no longer a reporter and asking the probing follow-up question, as badly as she wanted to, was not her objective. Keeping her head was. The head that was still reeling from the other woman's good cop-bad cop-insane cop routine. What was going on?

"All too vividly," she said. As in live-and-in-color vivid.

"It seems we have more in common than we thought then. What do you say we just let bygones be bygones."

It had to have been Madelyn. What could Tess want from her? Unless the thing that Tess wanted was her. Which was just sil -- Could -- ?

She smiled her big patented Sullivan smile, guaranteed to bamboozle county records clerks and big dumb aliens. "Of course," she said. "Bygones."


	7. Chapter 7

Things happened swiftly after that. Tess stood and nodded to the guard, who led them both upstairs to a bedroom; the guard stood himself outside while Tess swept her in and began pulling clothes out of drawers. From the familiar way she rummaged Chloe realized it was her room. The surreal, easily dismissed panic that had hit her at the end of the interview downstairs exploded. She'd never ... she'd sometimes thought about ...could she even? She took a huge breath to keep a hysterical giggle from surfacing. Sure she could. It couldn't be _hard_. Not nearly as hard as Jimmy had made it out to be, at any rate. A sense of can-do excitement unexpectedly filled her. It might even be fun.

"These are all going to be big," Tess was saying meanwhile, "but it's temporary."

Chloe gave herself permission to look confused.

"You're going to want clean clothes after your shower," Tess replied. _So__, __clothes__were__on__the__menu_? "And you won't want anything that will chafe." _I__won__'__t__?_

Chloe smiled and took the sweats Tess handed to her. Tess smiled back. She turned and walked to the bathroom before the smiles got awkward. Before the whole freaky situation got awkward. As oddly anticipatory as she suddenly seemed to be, she still had no idea what she was doing.

She closed the door and let herself collapse slowly unto the floor. Was it something Tess was doing? Possibly. But it had kept her alive. For now.

It was all so weird. She was used to weird, but this was a special limited-time only offer of it. If Tess wanted her alive now, why had she sent assassins after her three years ago? Davis had told her Tess had taken a pretty obsessive interest in him, which hadn't seemed surprising at the time. She was the Luthor heir after all. Luthors had always taken an obsessive interest in things Kryptonian. As, she thought ruefully, had she. But why try to kill her? Had she gotten in the way of some plan Tess had had for Davis? But Tess hadn't known what triggered the The Beast. Just as Chloe had no idea what was triggering Tess.

Something had happened downstairs, right after the other woman had gone all _Antiques__Road__Show_-appraiser over that vase. She stood shakily and turned on the taps, jerking when she realized it was hot. Hot water. How long had it been? She pulled off her faded black cargos and ratty sweater, forgetting everything in her haste to get under that shower-head. The water washed over her, and she sighed. Every muscle in her body seemed to relax, as deep, almost orgasmic ripples surged over her. It had been years. Something primal reared within her, giddy with pleasure. She wanted to run out into the bedroom and pull Tess - she froze. It was as if another heart was beating next to hers, another diaphragm pushing, another body competing for space within hers. Madelyn.

The giddiness faded, replaced by shock. She had never sensed Madelyn before when she'd been alone. Only with Kal-El, when Madelyn had obviously wanted to exert herself, had she felt the spirit she'd invited in. Now Madelyn seemed to want to exert herself again. Or maybe the witch had just gotten bolder. She'd gotten Kal-El what he wanted. She appeared to be getting Tess what she wanted. She didn't know what that was - but she bet Madelyn knew. She'd been straining so hard to find the chink in that armor, and Madelyn had. _What__is__it__, __Maddie__-__girl__?_ She wondered if the witch could hear her words. She wondered if the witch could feel her, as she had felt the witch.

Someone knocked. Chloe heard the door open, then Tess' voice. "Is everything alright?"

Chloe turned off the water and popped her head out from behind the curtain. "Yeah, great. It's just - hot water, you know? I probably drained the heater."

Tess smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry about it; it's a tankless system. But if you're done, Rangi's here. We've got to get you set up."

Chloe smiled and nodded and wondered who Rangi was and what it meant to be set up. Eventually she would figure out what all the cryptic nods and references were about. Eventually. When she was dead, probably. She dried, pulled on the sweats Tess had given her, and re-discovered another luxury, one she didn't know she had missed: fabric softener. The fluffy cotton knits had to be the most heavenly things to touch her skin -

She walked back into the bedroom before Madelyn could attempt another pleasure-fueled take-over. An enormous camo-wearing guard, his chin and cheeks covered with swirling Maori tattoos, was setting up a portable massage table next to a bookshelf. On one of the shelves was an assortment of small bottles, plastic bags, tiny plastic cups and what looked like the world's largest, fattest mechanical pencil.

"Rangi, this is Chloe Sullivan. She's joining the security team."

Rangi nodded and indicated the massage table to her. Chloe glanced at Tess.

"Everyone on the security team needs to be marked," Tess said. "You'll be issued I.D. as well, but that's usually not visible in the field. The tattoo will enable the Kryptonian team members to sense you."

Chloe moved to the table and sat on it. "That would mean the tattoo ink would have to have Kryptonite in it."

"On your belly," Rangi told her good-naturedly. _Oh__thank__God__. __At__least__I__know__their__tongues__haven__'__t__been__cut__out__._

"Don't worry, it won't put you through any walls. There's really only a trace of meteor rock in it. Not enough to cause mutation." Tess paused. "Or jumpstart one," she added.

Rangi lifted the back of her sweatshirt and Chloe felt the cold foam of shaving lotion being spread on her lower back.

"So, am I getting a unicorn or a skull?" Chloe joked.

"You're pledged to the House of El now," Tess answered. "You'll wear the shield of El."


	8. Chapter 8

The first few minutes were mildly unpleasant, somewhere between series of bee stings and a curling iron burn, the kind of pain one would slap off and move on, unless one had deliberately chosen to, say, declare themselves permanently Johnny's girl or map out a prison schematic on their body. Or swear fealty to someone from another planet. Chloe grit her teeth and breathed hard through her belly. She reminded herself that she was here for info and now was just as good a time as any to gather it.

"So does everyone on Team Planetary Peace have one of these?" Dammit. That came out a little more flip than she'd meant it to. Well who wouldn't be flip if she had a white-hot needle puncturing her skin every nano-second? She noted too the hovering sense of Other in her skull had completely vanished. Maybe Madelyn wasn't as dumb as she'd thought. She hoped the uppity cow realized there was still work to do.

Rangi laughed. Probably he was used to bitchy subjects. To her surprise, he also answered. "Nah, not like this. Mosta 'em got the shield, but this ink's gotta be rationed. Only the field security team gets this stuff."

The needle passed over her spine and she winced, visions of paralysis dancing in her head.

"Great," she tried to laugh. "So that means I'm not going to be arrested for possession?"

He laughed again, a big laugh from a big man. "Nah. I don't know where they get it all, but they got it. They won't need to rip it off of you. You need to relax. You tense up more, this'll start to hurt."

_Start_ to hurt? Maybe it was like plucking your eyebrows, she thought; after you'd yanked out so many hairs you didn't feel it anymore. Not that she intended to find out. She opened her diaphragm until she was slightly dizzy, then pushed it out slowly until she nearly cramped. She heard Tess get up from the bed and the noise of something large being dragged. Tess pulled it over to the head of the massage table; after some shuffling Chloe felt a finger trace over her hair, tuck it behind her ear. She forced herself to think about what Rangi had just said. They were stock-piling Kryptonite. That much had been guessed, based on the ban the meteor-rock ban, but aside from the importance of keeping it out of rebellious hands, what would they do with it? The Kryptonians couldn't touch the stuff. But it was obvious they did trust some humans to. Why?

"I'm not going to cause any allergic reactions, am I?"

There was a pause, after which Tess answered, her fingers running from crown to neck. "No. As I said, the formula's quite mild. Its only purpose is identification."

"So you save the big stuff for other ... stuff?" _Very articulate, Sullivan. Maybe next time try the direct approach: Please give me the precise location of your stores so I can transmit their coordinates via voo-doo radio to my personal medium_. She blamed the freaking needle on her back. It was making passes across her spine, back and forth, like an insect performing some kind of pollen-direction dance that involved stinging all the other bees. She gripped the corner of the table and hoped Madelyn was at least maintaining a baby-monitor in her mind. And that her influence didn't have a sell-by date.

"Oh yes, we have all kinds of other 'stuff'' we do with it. Kryptonite has some amazing scientific properties; unfortunately we haven't been able to properly research them until now." Tess uncurled her white-knuckle grip and threaded her fingers through Chloe's. In spite of herself, Chloe gripped the other woman's hand fiercely. Next stop Stockholm, she thought.

"I suppose having scientists with the right knowledge base on hand is helpful." Hopefully she had a few more hours before the grateful-captive train pulled into the station. A few more burning, buzzing, bleeding hours.

"Absolutely. But environmental conditions have been a factor too. We've been able to achieve a number of things that were ... impractical under higher frequency wavelengths. For instance, we can grow a limited supply of most crops, but since the spectrum shift we've been able to use Kryptonite to create seed strains that should multiply yields a thousand-fold from what they were before. You need to relax," she continued. "Rangi's right, the more tense you are the worse the pain." She picked up Chloe's hand and began massaging the back of it where it bent back against her wrist. She pressed hard, hard enough for Chloe to start and gasp and forget the sculpture in progress on her back.

"Watch it," said Rangi sharply.

"Sorry," Chloe replied. She breathed deeply through the scratching on her back, the vise-grip on her hand, the racing of her thoughts. "I haven't seen anything broadcast about growing food again." Were they really doing what she thought they were doing? Tess had to have been privy to those files. She had to know the risks, had to know a super-powered id separated from its ego would be an untameable monster. _Kal-El_ had to know that. "When will the crops be ready to harvest?"

"It's all very top-secret," Tess told her dryly, digging into her bones "Loose lips sink ships. Can you imagine what the reaction would be if we promised manna and it was stolen in the night before it could be gathered?"

And what did she mean by that, Chloe thought. The resistance? Did she think they would take food out of children's mouths? Of course, give people bellies full of something besides algae and they might not care anymore where it had come from.

"That would be a problem," Chloe agreed. The pen neared her sacrum; she could feel it pounding like a lilliputian jack-hammer. Tess hadn't answered her question. It could be tomorrow, it could be two years from now. Her chest tightened with the uncertainty of it. She wished she could sit up and look the other woman in the eye. Whatever Madelyn had discovered to gain this woman's trust it hadn't been enough if she was still able to keep her own counsel. And the damn tattoo wasn't helping her concentration. She let her lungs fill and collapse a few times, then tried a different angle.

"But you said you're growing some food now. How are you doing that?"

"Hydroponics, plant lights, underground climate-controlled facilities - again, very classified." She released Chloe's hand and began stroking the outer edge of her thumb. "The Fortress provides most of the energy, so we don't have to worry about supply interruptions."

Chloe's diaphragm froze for a second. "The Fortress?" she asked. "Jor-El's Fortre - aiy!" She screamed through her teeth as the pen skidded and ripped into her skin. Tess's hand clamped around hers and for one heavenly moment the stinging stopped.

"Don't let us distract you," Tess said over her head.

"Sorry about that," Rangi answered. "You need a break?"

"She's almost done," Tess answered. The stinging resumed, and Chloe felt tears well. It was worse now that she'd had a breather. She was such a wimp. And Tess was so not granted Adored Captor status. "Yes, Jor-El's Fortress," Tess continued. She massaged the bottom knuckle of Chloe's thumb. "Kal-El tells me you've been there."

"On occasion."

"He told me that day you stopped him from opening the Phantom Zone, you did so by replacing a crystal in the Fortress console."

"Yes?" Tiny alarm bells rang through the pain. Where was this going?

"That's quite remarkable. The Fortress has a limited tolerance for visitors, and no one, human or Kryptonian, other than Kal-El has been able to touch that console since the spectrum shift." She kneaded the pad of flesh between Chloe's thumb and index finger. "Why do you suppose it let you?"

Chloe blinked. She could feel her skin twitching over her spine. Hell if she knew why Jor-El let anyone do anything. Why was Tess was so intent? She could feel it in the woman's fingers, hear it underlie her off-hand tone. She wanted something. Something? The Console. Tess wanted the Console. Her heart pounded to match the pen. She tried to match her interrogator's casual cadence. "The times I have been able to affect the Fortress in any way have been when I convinced it there was a threat to Kal-El."

"Of course. It trusts you will do whatever you can to protect him. That's all I want too," Tess answered.


	9. Chapter 9

Despite a head throbbing with them, she didn't ask any more questions, and Tess didn't tell her any more carefully chosen nuggets of truth. Or vice versa. Instead she gritted her teeth and let Tess massage her hand and cried with as little motion as she could. When it was over, Rangi settled a piece of plastic wrap on her back, saying cheerfully: "You're bound to the House of El now, you and your children and you're children's children."

She sat up, dripping with tears and snot, and had to press her lips together at the scrape of her shirt along her back. Tess handed her a box of tissues and gave her a proud little smile. Chloe smiled and tried to look as enthusiastic as they were about the situation.

"You keep that on tonight," Rangi continued. "Take a shower in the morning, let 'er come off then. But don't bathe, not for a coupla weeks, and don't pick at it. Don't let anyone else pick at it either."

_Ewwwwwww_. He chuckled at her face. "Yeah, they got some weird ones in the barracks; don't let 'em get to you. And put this on a coupla times a day, just a thin layer 'til it starts scabbing up." He handed her a tube of A&D Cream. "You notice any bleeding or pus, you get to the Infirmary." His dark eyes looked genuinely concerned.

She nodded and blew her nose. She was going to start crying again, and that she did not want. She did not need concern, especially warm, upbeat, attentive concern. The man was reminding her of Pete. Not a relationship dynamic she wanted to foster at the moment. Or ever. Not when her children and her children's children were bound to the House of El forever.

Tess, God bless her, laid an arm on her shoulder. "We should get you to your quarters."

"I would like that." She would. She was much less intrigued now than she'd been before her shower. Probably because Madelyn was still on vacation. The giant throbbing scar on her back might have something to do with that too. She once again followed Tess out the door.

"We've got some space for you in the guest rooms," Tess said. "Unfortunately it's not permanent, but I'm sure we'll find something to your liking going forward."

Chloe smiled back vaguely, not sure if ignoring the inneundo or acknowledging it was the better plan. "I understand. I gotta go where I'm told now."

Tess looked pleased. "Where you gotta go for tonight is here," she said, opening an anonymous door.

"Looks comfortable. Thank you." They stood there for a moment in the entrance. Protocol probably demanded that she not shut the door on her new boss, but Tess did not appear anxious to leave. It occurred to her that maybe the move to the new room had merely been for discretion's sake. Oh she hoped not. Not now. She swayed with tired itchiness while Tess reached up and smoothed her hair, her expression thoughtful. "You look tired. I'll let you rest. You've got a big day tomorrow,"

Chloe sighed as delicately as she could. "Yes ma'am. Right away."

"Then... good night." She waited for Tess to turn and walk away before sagging against the closed door. Whatever was going to happen, please let it happen soon. Unlike Lex, she hadn't been raised to walk the mine-fields of other people's minds.

She laid herself down on the bed, on one side, then the other, trying to find a position that didn't stretch the skin on her back. After a few unsuccessful minutes of that a girl in camo came in with a tray that featured actual bread and what looked like scrambled eggs. From a powder, she guessed, like that god-awful formalde-food they'd tried to feed her at camp when she was a kid and didn't know how damn lucky she was to be able to turn her nose up at it. She smell made her stomach rumble. That might have been embarrassing, if the girl in camo had acknowledged her in any way. Maybe Tess had ommandeered the last of the precious, delicious egg-powder on her behalf and she'd have to unleash the power of Madelyn on the rest of the security staff to keep them from banding against her. That would be fun, if Madelyn ever decided to re-surface.

It must be nice, she thought, to just ignore what you didn't want to feel. She'd tried that for a while. Years. Never seemed to quite work out for her. Of course, she didn't have the option of riding around in someone else's body. Yet. _Never__say__never__, __Sullivan__._ But in the glorious, ever-present now, brows furrowed against the pain, she was completely depedent on the spirit riding around in hers and it would be really fucking helpful to know if said spirit had been paying attention or not. Had she understood that Tess wanted Chloe to use the Fortress' Console on her behalf, or did Chloe have to spell it out for her? And how exactly would she do that if she did? It wasn't as if there was much scintillating dialogue in their relationship.

But if she could sense what Chloe sensed, Madelyn should be able to hear what she heard. She should be able to hear Chloe speak. Did she dare just start talking to herself? Maybe not. Tess had picked out the room; it could be bugged. Could be? She licked the last of the fake-egg grease off her fingers and giggled. The mansion was chock-full of strutting, searing humanoid listening devices. She supposed she could write it down: TESS WANTS TO CONTROL THE FORTRESS OF KNOWLEDGE. SEND HELP AND ACETAMINOPHEN. And then what would she do? Eat the paper? Besides which, she didn't know if the witch could read. There could have been some more thought put into this plan. What had been going through Lex's mind? Jesus her back burned. It was all so. Fucking. Frustrating. She buried her face in her pillow and screamed.

"Does this mean you're awake?'

She jumped. Dammit. Someone had heard and come and -

Kal-El.

Kal-El had come.


	10. Chapter 10

"I ... am," she said quickly, scrambling to a kneel on the floor. He shut the door behind him.

"Good." He walked to the bed and slumped down, elbows on his knees.

Exactly why that was good she wasn't sure, as he proceeded to spend the next few minutes not saying anything. She watched him brood for a moment, wondering if, as she had with the strangely preserved Luthor mansion, this familiar behavior could be considered a good omen. She hooked her thumbs together to keep from tapping them. A good omen for her perhaps, but it couldn't be good for the world. She was pretty sure there was no grounding Earth-to-Kal snark allowed during a super mope. Christ, how long was he planning to sit there? If he was going to counter-act Tess' decision couldn't he just do it already? Her knees were killing her. She propped up her toes and pulled out her old routine for queues and stake-outs: 1917, Herbert Bayard Swope, _New__York__World_, for articles "Inside the German Empire". 1918, Harold A. Littledale, _New__York__Evening__Post_, for articles exposing abuses in the New Jersey prison system. 1919, none. 1920, John J. Lear-

"Why did you come back?"

She started up from her repetition, pulling the skin along her spine in the process. Ouch. "Pardon?"

"You turned yourself in. Why did you do that?" He managed to look both agitated and lantern-jawed, eyes fixed rigidly on the carpet.

Had he spoke with Tess? Even if he hadn't, even if the room wasn't 'bugged', she had no doubt the Planetary Secretary of Security would get the conversation out of him at some point. "I want people to live," she answered, trying and failing to catch his eye. "The more we fight the worse it gets though. It just started to seem useless. Counter-productive."

"And you thought you could do some good by running to an old friend and turning traitor to your new ones."

"I ... thought I could help. Bridge the chasm. At least build some piles." He was still not looking at her. Had Tess caught on? Had she told him?

"At what point did you think we could meet? I'm trying to keep two separate species from tearing each other apart and in the meantime you've been busy ripping. Where is our commonality?"

I've _been__busy__ripping_? Who exactly did he think had destroyed the world's major military installations, executed its heads of state, demolished its major cities? She dug jagged fingernails into her palms. "We - I want peace. I wasn't thinking clearly before, but now, I know first-hand the consequences of war and I know we need peace if we're going to survive."

"What changed your mind?"

"I just think too - "

"It's just been so long since you had any faith in me. Even before the Kandorians came, you didn't believe in me. And now you're tired of playing G.I. Jane you come here saying 'Oops, my bad?'"

He looked up then, green eyes boring into hers, agitation gone, accusation replacing it. She couldn't look away any more than she could use the opportunity; none of her ten thousand thoughts could be spoken aloud.

"The whole time I was trying to negotiate with Zod you fought me, and it killed me to know you weren't there with me, standing beside me. And then afterward, when Zod was defeated and the threat was gone so were you. Completely. Nothing mattered to you except that I hadn't done what you wanted."

She couldn't say anything. Even if she could have articulated her rage her instinct for survival had already locked down her locked down her throat. And she wanted to rage, to howl the way she had the day they brought her to the mansion. She wanted to yell. She wanted to get up off her knees and ask him what the fuck did he expect after telling her that he'd put humans on a pedestal they didn't deserve to be on and then speechifying about how Zod just needed a friend? After wanting to throw a man into the Phantom Zone who regularly blacked out and lost control when his genetic programming switched on and then giving her bullshit about assimilating the cognizant and oh-so-peaceful Kandorians? After walking out on her and not letting the door hit his ass on the way out?

What she wanted would get her killed, and then everything - inviting Madelyn into her head, giving up Lana's location, getting that damn tattoo scratched on her back - would be worthless. It wasn't about what she wanted.

Focusing her inner storm, she used it to pry open her jaw, lick her lips, draw the necessary breath.

"I know," she said. "And I am so sorry. I - "

Her mouth fused shut again. She had to look away. She would go to hell for that one.

A giant hand slid under her chin, pulling her face back to his. "Do you really mean that?"

_Oh__, __Madelyn__. __Please__._ "Yes. I should have had faith in you. I was just so angry after Jimmy died. I know that's not an excuse, but..." she trailed off. She could see his face changing. His eyes, so intent before, were growing wide and curious, as if he'd never seen her before. His other hand lifted to her face, his fingers tracing her eye sockets, her nose, the tip of her chin. His eyes followed as they continued down her airway to her collarbone, resting hesitantly over her pulse-point. They remained there, unmoving, his stare unblinking, and she was reminded of Tess and that horrible vase with the flowers stuck all over it and none inside it. Lana would have put flowers in it, Lana had put flowers into every teacup around this place, but there were no more flowers to be had. What had happened down there? What was happening now?

"No, it's not," he said suddenly, sitting up. "But that's all in the past now."


	11. Chapter 11

Where had she heard that before?_What __do __you __say__ we __just __let __bygones __be__ bygones__. _Is this how it always worked? Supply a sufficient amount of pressure and then watch the dam burst?

"Are you going to stay down there all day?"

_Wha__-?_ She blinked. "Where would I go?"

"Have a seat," he said. He patted the mattress.

Bemused, she pushed back on her heels, attempted to unbend her legs, lost her balance and pitched forward unto the bed. Arms caught her, dragging her forward until she was curled up beside him like a cat. Skin pulled and she grimaced.

"Are you ok?" Was he serious? He looked serious. His face could have been a mirror of Rangi's earlier.

"No, I'm just a little sensitive right now, with the tattoo and all."

"Yeah, that'll sting."

"You got a tattoo? How - ?" Well of course he could get a tattoo now. The pertinent question was why.

"It's a House identifier." He smiled suddenly, the way he had the day he'd shown her his Blur costume under his suit. "Didn't even need Kryptonite to do it," he said. "All it takes is a piece of paper now and I bleed. I lost a toe-nail last summer after banging my foot into a boulder. And I've had two colds now."

"That's... great?" Inside her head Rod Serling's voice told her she was traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. If only Rod knew... She giggled, then froze.

"You think I'm crazy."

"No..." _I__think__I__am__._ She couldn't say that. He'd want to know why and - another giggle escaped her. Tuberculosis, cholera, and typhoid were raging through the former industrialized world, and he was bragging about having a head cold. Tess must be keeping him in a bubble. "I just don't know anyone else who is as excited about clogged sinuses and hacking phlegm."

"Yeah. I guess. It's good to see you." His eyes smiled at her. "When I heard you showed up at the Metropolis station I hoped we'd have a chance to talk."

"Well, now we are. What took us so long?"

He plucked at the spread. "There are protocols. Things have to be done a certain way."

_Oh__, __I __know__ all __about __the __way__ you __get __things __done__._ She leaned forward, took his hand from the blanket. "I suppose. Don't you ever get to VIP fast-track through customs, though?"

He smiled wistfully. "That would be tempting. Run the world on a whim. Reward all my friends. Destroy all my enemies. That would be fun. But it wouldn't be justice."

She had to repress another laugh. What was with her? And what was with these people? Tess had talked about justice too. Justice for whom? For the billions being governed without their consent? That word coming out of his mouth - it was so silly. She bit her lip and drew a fierce breath in.

"Do you disagree?"

She gaped. A little. When had he gotten observant? She couldn't be having any more of that. "No. You're right. Without rule of law it's just _Lord __of __the __Flies_ out there." She gave him what she hoped was a commiserating look. "That's why I turned myself in." She gave his hand a squeeze. He smiled and squeezed back. His hands were rougher than she remembered, the skin thcker and drier. She wondered if vulnerability had changed him in other ways, and where.

"'What are kingdoms without justice?'" he asked. "'They are just gangs of bandits.'"*

"That's a helluva sound-bite," she answered, channeling her sudden effervescence into her grip. She was now 85% sure she was not going to get through the conversation without losing it.

"Jor-El told me that. It stuck with me. In the past, every government on this planet was just like a street gang, run by a group of guys whose sole justification for their existence was turf wars. If we can get rid of the turf wars we can get rid of so many other problems. We don't need to print money to pay for them, we don't need to spend our time researching new ways to kill people. For the first time in Earth's history we can focus on what matters. That's the gift Krypton has given us."

Damn but he looked so sweet and earnest when he said that. It was all stuff straight from the propaganda broadcasts, but alone now here with her, she could tell he really believed it. He needed a good smack and then a kiss to make it all better. He also needed to get on topic. She didn't have all night. She brought her free hand to his.

"I heard about some of them today. Tess said you have technology now that can grow 1000 times more food than before."

"Exactly! That's exactly what I'm talking about. Lex tried those experiments with kryptonite under a yellow sun and they didn't work. Now they do, and we'll be able to feed everyone on earth with a fraction of the land we used before."

It helped that there were only a fraction of the people living as there had been before. She ran her thumbs over his palms, rubbing small circles into them. "There are other things you can do too, Tess said. The food you're growing now? She said it's all done with energy from the Fortress. How does that work? Could it be used for other things?" Weapons, maybe? What else would Tess want? He'd never mentioned anything like that, but he'd never seemed interested in Jor-El's overtures before the Doomsday fight. Afterward...

"That's one thing we're still working on. We can divert some of its energy to for food production and to maintain the spectrum signal, but we haven't been able to reverse-engineer the technology yet."

His hands encircling hers were the only thing that kept her from leaping off the bed_._ Of course. The signal originated from the Fortress. He had practically told her as such during that second summons. But she couldn't let him realize what he was letting slip. She squeezed his hands again. "So there's no Mr. Spock in the crew."

He chuckled. "No, these guys were all counter-terrorism operators; coding Tess' algorithms was about as much as they could handle. So unfortunately zero-carbon energy will have to wait until I complete my training." You'd think, Chloe thought, that a civilization as advanced as Krypton claimed to be would have thought to send a scientist along. Or two. Just in case the first one got killed or something.

"So, what are you waiting for?"

"Things keep coming up. I wanted to do it after the treaty was in place, but..."

He was blushing. _Awwww__._ So cute. But he'd stopped talking. Not so cute.

"But?" She made sure to make eye contact, which he promptly broke.

"The training may take a few years to complete, and that would leave the people without a leader. Tess thinks I need... an heir."

*St. Augustine, City of God


	12. Chapter 12

"An heir? As in a ... Kal-El Jr.? Are you..." _Serious__?_ Oh God. Christ. He was. Well he would be, wouldn't he? Now that he could. But a baby? The man couldn't even handle a planet, much less an infant. The bubbles inside her welled up into the laugh she'd been fearing. She couldn't help it anymore.

He gave her a quizzical look, but shrugged. "She thinks we need to assure people things are in order, that I'm not just going to take off the way Zod did."

Curious. The bubbles burst. She didn't remember the population feeling abandoned because Zod no longer walked among them. Something about that tickled her memory. "I thought you said earlier you defeated him. Which is funny, because I don't remember hearing about that before."

"I said that?" His eyes widening, nostrils flaring just a bit - she remembered that look. The oh-shit-she-knows-my-secret look. Followed quickly by the bright stare of denial. How he had ever managed to fool even some people some of the time was a mystery to her. She was not in the mood to be fooled anymore though. She'd put up with quite enough of his bullshit for one lifetime.

"You did. You said that after you'd defeated Zod, I was gone completely."

"I misspoke? I meant 'disappeared.'"

What a lying sack of shit he was. What a lying, stinking, maggot-infested bag of future fertilizer. Per what she could expect, he was avoiding eye contact, staring guiltily into the middle distance. She should - She should what? There were still at least a dozen Kryptonians in the building. She was losing her focus again. She unclenched her fists, slipped her hands back into his.

"If it's not too much, can I ask why not just appoint someone as, say, Vice President? Wouldn't, you know, an adult be more effective in that role?" She gave him an encouraging smile. Come home. All is forgiven.

"With something like that there are other issues," he said tentatively. "Things are kind of a mess right now, administratively, so we don't want to add that to the mix. And there's the transfer of power, and stuff. When I come back."

Transfer of power. Gotcha. "So, I take it you uh, have you been ... trying?"

He looked so relieved to be off the previous topic, so grateful and earnest she felt sorry for him. "We have, but it's been hard," he said, utterly without irony. "I don't have my powers anymore, but genetically I'm still Kryptonian. We may not be compatible."

"We? Is there a specific special someone...?"

"Tess; she's the one we think has the best odds of cooperative DNA."

Sweet Buddha. She squeezed her eyes shut to keep them bulging out of her head. Of course Tess did. Or so she had told him. _Transfer__of__power__problem__, __my__ass__._ Not to mention that as mother of the heir of El, Tess would probably be able to waltz into the Fortress any damn time she pleased. In her mind Lex was bashing his head into the nearest wall. Much as Chloe wanted to mimic him, she could only sit there marveling. Marveling, and _not_ giggling hysterically. However much into the sharing she might have made him be, however hilarious it was, she would keep it together. She would.

"Then the plan is to have a child who's half-human?"

He nodded. "A child who will bring both races together, once and for all. Bridge the divide. Like you said earlier." He really was adorable when he got all idealistic and hopeful.

"That's my goal," she smiled.

He said nothing for a minute, but gazed at her instead. She remembered that look, too, the I-can-always-count-on-you-Chloe look. "I'm glad we're on the same team again," he answered finally. "Now that you're here I feel like it's all coming together." He looked so trusting, as if he believed in her now as much as he believed in himself. So sweet, so innocent, like a baby himself, and it really wouldn't hurt to encourage that...

She leaned forward, lifted her face, pressed her lips to his. After a second he pressed back eagerly. She smiled and, pulling his lower lip between her own, bit. He gasped. A cluster bomb of lust and triumph and power went off inside her. She could do anything to him right now, anything, and he wouldn't fight her. Not unless she wanted him to. Pry all of his toenails off with pliers and he would take it. He would look into her eyes and, screaming, ask for more. She had given him what he wanted, and he would now give her what she wanted. The anticipation of it made her shiver, her breath coming in hard little pants, her fingers curling to attack. She would do it, she would take it, take what was hers, what was owed her, after all these years, hundreds of them mouldering in the dirt -

It was happening again.

She pulled away with a gasp she wasn't sure she was controlling. For a second, ten, twenty, a minute she didn't know how long, she fought for air, scrabbling against the other will in her body. She had two choices now: she could submit and breathe and be lost forever; or she could resist. Endure the panic and the burn in her lungs, fight until she blacked out. Who she would be when she woke up, if she woke up, she didn't know, but it was her only chance right now, the only way to make sure the missio-

"Chloe?" She was grabbed and yanked; the shock forced air down her trachea. With all her might she opened her lungs to it and felt the coolness of it fill her like re-birth.

"Chloe!" he asked again. He looked as panicked as she felt.

She threw a hand to her mouth as nausea cramped and pushed at the fake eggs and bread in her stomach. The last time she had known that much fear she had woken inside a pitch-black metal box, certain in the knowledge that if she wasn't already dead she soon would be.

"Chloe?" he whispered.

She threw herself on him, wrapped her arms around his neck, clung to him like the savior he was and had been. He engulfed her in turn and all she could think of was how safe she finally felt. _After __s o__lon_g...


	13. Chapter 13

_After so long..._

Her eyes popped open. No. That was not a safe thought to have. Not anymore. She didn't know what a safe thought would be, but that wasn't it.

"What happened?"

Madelyn had happened. How...? She'd always felt her before, that sense of wild, expectant otherness. Sometimes demanding, sometimes hedonistic. This time it had just felt like her. A her with huge mood swings, but still her. She wasn't Madelyn. She didn't want those things Madelyn wanted. She wanted other things. Things that suddenly seemed within her reach.

Kal-El hadn't been the only one being played.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm..." she stared at him blankly. The pit in her stomach had not gone away, and the burning on her back had flared. They made it hard to think of an excuse. What did you say when you had a supernaturally induced asthma attack while kissing someone?

You asked about his girlfriend. The one he really wanted. That's what.

"Where's Lana?" He blinked. She looked him firmly in the eye and forced her saliva down. "You wanted to see Lana earlier. It was all you wanted from me when I first arrived. How is she? Is she ... ?" Alive? Under guard? Being questioned? "...alright?"

He looked away. Another look she recognized. This time she shared it. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought about Lana until now; everything depended on her. Or had depended. It should have been the first question out of her mouth when she realized he'd been fully ... taken in.

"She's fine. She's asleep. She's had a long day. She needed to rest." He paused, as if remembering something. "She's what I came to talk to you about, actually."

Of course she was. Why that should bother Chloe now she had no idea. It must be her back. She would kill to jump into a cold shower right now. "Is something wrong?"

"It's the way she says she lost her powers. She says one of our people, a woman called Alia, attacked her. Alia went rogue several months ago and Lana found out, started tracking her. She said she was following a lead in the Basque Country when Alia ambushed her."

"Wait - you're saying this woman attacked Lana before she lost her powers? How would she be able to do that?"

"That's just it - Lana doesn't think Alia's a woman. Not only was she not repelled by the kryptonite radiation, Lana says she also sprouted metal tentacles."

"She thinks Alia's Brainiac."

"Exactly. But she said it wasn't like before - once the tentacles made contact, it was like Alia short-circuited. She just collapsed. Lana was able to get away, but her powers were gone. She said she had just gotten back to her base a few days before our team intercepted her, and that's when she realized she wasn't giving off anymore radiation."

Chloe chewed her lip and wondered. If this was the case, had Lex known? Would he have still sent her? With so much they didn't know, so much that could have gone wrong? Could still go wrong. Bringing Madelyn into play had always been a gamble; if Lana was out of commission, and Lex knew it, he must be desperate. That thought brought its own brand of fear to the mix. Her stomach roiled again, and she wanted nothing more than to hang her head between her knees. That would require an agony of stretching, though.

"Is she alright?" Forget trying to think. She should just keep talking; it kept her from running out into the hall screaming.

"She appears to be, but I don't know. If Alia was really Brainiac, I'm worried she may have been infected the way you were." A deep crease formed between his brows as he frowned; she noticed there was a little wrinkle forming there from use. "I need to know exactly what happened to you when Brainiac possessed you."

"A lot of the same. Octopus arms with drills on them piercing my skull. I think he meant to put me in a catatonic state, the way he had with Lana, except it didn't work. There was this light, like when my meteor ability would activate, and then I don't remember anything after that until waking up in the ICU."

"Lana didn't mention light."

"That could have been just a side-effect of my mutation." She remembered what she had been told of the aftermath and paused, considering. He had been so touchy, earlier, when she'd asked about Zod...

"You killed him, didn't you?" she asked. His head jerked up, eyes enormous. "After Brainiac attacked me, you killed him."

His mouth made little fish movements. "He wasn't a man, Chloe. He was a machine. An 'it'."

He was staring at her indignantly. She made sure to stare back. "That must have been some fight."

"He'd been weakened, he was at the power plant looking for energy, I just gave him some."

_I see._ "So it's possible that by attacking me, _it_ damaged _it_self someway. The way it appears Alia was damaged by Lana." His hard, defensive face relaxed as he latched on to her last speculation. _Oh Clark. What have you done?_

"You think the suit may have protected her the way your mutation protected you?"

"The suit made her invulnerable, didn't it? Maybe it gave her some kind of regenerative ability that worked on Brainiac the same way my mutation did." Or maybe Brainiac was vulnerable to kryptonite once the stuff got into _its_ moving parts, or maybe Alia!Brainiac was an older, unimproved model. If she'd been in the Orb, she would be at least a decade older than the version that landed in the second meteor shower. Would that matter? How could they - Her heart stopped for a moment. Strangely, the pulse in her back continued to throb. That, she supposed, was probably a good thing, all in all. As long as she embraced that irritation, she thought, she might still maintain control. That tattoo just might be what saw her through this.

"Jor-El might know," she said.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:** To the clever person who left an unsigned review after the last update: yes, this might be her way of getting to the Fortress. Maybe.

_"The suit made her invulnerable, didn't it? Maybe it gave her some kind of regenerative ability that worked on Brainiac the same way my mutation did. ... Jor-El might know," she said._

"My father?"

"Unless you think the Kandorians can run a system diagnostic on her? I think he's our best bet. Our only bet."

He shrugged. "I could ask him."

"I was thinking he could, I don't know, run some tests, download some Krypto anti-virus. It doesn't do us any good to know she's infected if we can't rid her of the infection."

"He would never allow that. He's become incredibly paranoid, and Brainiac is the reason why. I don't know what he would do if I brought her up there and told him I thought she was infected. He's not going to risk another take-over."

She forced herself not to roll her eyes. He was arguing again. It was late, she was exhausted, he must be as well now that he was susceptible to rocks and the common cold, and it wasn't as if he had some genius plan with which to counter hers. He -

She stopped. Drew a breath. Another line of thinking that wasn't safe. Desire, anger, even relief: they all seemed to be red flags to the bull that was Madelyn. Indulge them and she'd charge.

"Cl - ." She stopped again. The situation might be getting old school, but she must not. There were eyes to see and ears to hear this conversation besides their own. There were so many mines in this field, and no way of detecting them all except by putting her foot down. She drew a breath and plunged on. "This is Lana we're talking about here. You know, Lana, the girl you've loved since you were five? The girl for whom you turned back time, for whom you were willing to remain human? You remember her..." she trailed off as she saw him frown. Shit. She probably shouldn't have added that last one. Anxiously, she sought eye-contact, realized what she was doing, and hastily began examining the lint on his shoulder. She was just going to have to wing it until absolutely necessary. "After all that's happened," she continued, picking at - was that dog hair? On his shoulder? "after all these years, you finally have the chance to be with her. Don't you want to take it? Don't you think Lana's life is worth the risk?"

"I _do_," he said "but-"

"Then what's stopping you?" She gripped his shoulder, on the verge of shaking him, and forced herself to relax her hand. Calm was obviously going to require a little more work on her part.

"I told you - he's as likely to attack as he is to listen to anyone else who enters. Especially someone he perceives as a threat."

"But you'll be with her. Won't he listen to you?"

He looked out the window into a night as dark as night had always been. "I'm not sure I'd disagree with him. A lot depends on the Fortress' ability to function. I'm not sure it's worth the risk."

Three years ago that speech would have reduced her to slack-jawed stupefaction. As it was, she was simply confounded.

"What will you do with her then? You're not going to kill her, are you?" His eyes flashed and she held up pleading hands. "Unless you have another Phantom Zone crystal?"

"No," he said, although she was not sure in answer to which question. "She'll be kept isolated. We'll observe her, keep her away from electronics, until we know what we're dealing with."

"And if she attacks a guard in the meantime, or replicates?"

"We'll deal with that if it becomes necessary," he said decisively.

Well, so much for wanting to believe. What had happened to that? Hell, what had happened to his memory? "If this is Brainiac, and you don't want to kill her, and you don't have a crystal and you don't have some nuclear accelerator-grade magnets with an EMP attached to suck it out of her and a telepath on hand to keep her mind together while you do it, you're going to have to involve Jor-El somehow. He appears to be the only one with the know-how to deal with it. And if you don't pull him in, Brainiac surely will. Even if you keep her locked up you're only delaying the inevitable. You need to go on the offensive here." She was gripping his shoulder again and once more had to will herself to let go. He was looking slightly less arrogant and slightly more chagrined, however. She wondered if in order for him to want to do as she said she needed to want him to do it, if her desire was a requisite for his. Maybe it really was only when there was a will that there was a way. _Oh, that 's gonna get messy._

"I could do a dry run with him, give him some time to prep. It's still possible he may not listen to me. He's not happy I haven't finished my training."

"Does he know what you're trying to do?" she asked.

"With the baby? Yeah. He's not too supportive. He thinks I'm getting ahead of myself. In his mind it's training first, everything else later."

That actually didn't surprise her. What did was that Daddy Dearest wasn't putting up a bigger stink, considering the method by which he had chosen to "train" his son the first go-round. Long after the summer they'd both gone underground, Martha had told her what had happened, about picking up a Clark Kent-shaped body with a completely inhuman mind in it from the hospital. That first attempt had taken months of subliminal indoctrination, but the human Clark had become somehow survived it and overcame. It occurred to her that perhaps Jor-El, having failed to succeed, had decided to try, try again. The only difference being, like another disembodied will she knew, he had learned some subtlety. She had no doubt his aims were still the same.

Which would be worrisome if she didn't have another goal right now. She had to get someone up there. Someone not Tess. On the other hand, even if he was the architectural equivalent of Darth Vader, he might be willing to make a deal. Lionel had. "Maybe you could convince him that you're speeding the project up a bit and want his help."

"How? You mean, like with artificial insemination?" His cheeks turned a little pink, and she had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from giggling. Supreme Muckety-Muck-Muck or not, she wondered how many of his subjects knew they could probably incapacitate him just by saying "vagina" in his presence.

"I was thinking more like DNA analysis. I'd think if anyone could pinpoint humans with Kryptonian-friendly chromosomes, it would be Jor-El."

"So I would bring Tess up there - "

"Do you really want to have a baby with Tess?"

Comprehension bloomed on his face. Slowly. "I would bring Lana up there?"

"And tell him you'd like his helping in screening other candidates. Say you really want to continue your training, but you think its wisest to implement a continuity management plan first, and you're looking to broaden your pool of potential mates."

"Mates, plural? You mean, other than just Lana."

"I - " Heat flashed through her just under her skin, pulsing under the plastic wrap and in ... other areas. Areas she'd probably turn pink naming. Her and her brilliant ideas. Like getting a tattoo. She focused on its rhythmic itching, and not on ... anything else. "- suppose. Sure. Yeah. Absolutely." Other than just Lana. Like her. She could go... The heat deepened as want infected her. "You could turn it it into a big initiative. Eventually. Get the rest of the Kandorians involved. You know, after you set the example." She scratched her back, digging ragged fingernails in as deeply as she could through the membrane. She hoped Madelyn didn't get off on receiving pain as much as she did giving it.

He sat back, considering. She watched, waited, and thought she might burst into a million tiny pieces with the effort of holding herself in. She wanted this so much she could barely acknowledge it, even as it leaked through every pore. She felt for the animal, the other inside her, but probing her mind meant immersing herself in her wanting, so she halted. Held back, hand to the bubble, the film of it just on the verge of -

"So I tell him I'm bringing a woman home to meet him, I want him to do a physical on her to find out if she's infected by an artificial intelligence he created and also to learn if she could possibly have my children, in addition to vetting the rest of my potential harem, and in return I'll promise to come back and write my thesis for him?"

Well, when he put it that way, it sounded kind of lame. "Yes?"

He shook his head. "I suppose it's worth a shot."


	15. Chapter 15

_Worth a shot. _That was all she'd wanted. He was willing to try, she thought, right before something slammed through the top of her skull and out her left cheekbone, a star went nova inside her head and when she was able to open her eyes there three of him gaping at her.

"Chloe?"

_Don'ttalkdon'ttalkdon'ttalkdon'ttalk - focus on the breath, focus on the breath._

"I'm going to get a medic," he said, standing so quickly the bed bounced.

"No!" she choked.

"Can you breathe?"  
_  
_It was all she was able to do. She nodded from between her knees, reminding everyone currently occupying her head that he hadn't done it yet, they weren't finished. _Not even close. Break your fucking word and you will spend the rest of eternity licking fungus off Hitler's toes you Bellatrix wanna-be!_ "I can," she panted. "I just had this really sudden pain. Like I was Phineas Gage and the crowbar just plunged through my skull." She put a hand to her forehead for effect.

"Does this happen a lot?"

"A few times," she lied. _Only every time the demon in my head goes medieval on my ass.  
_  
"You need to talk to a doctor." He thrust his jaw out. Kal-El has spoken, it said.

"Probably," she answered. "I don't want to wake anyone up though. It's late, if I just lie down for now it should pass."

He frowned, although whether from concern or confusion she wasn't sure. She closed her eyes and squeezed his hand. "You should check on Lana."

Even with her eyes shut, mention of that name did the trick. "You're sure you're ok?"

"I'll be fine." Which wasn't a total lie. Madelyn did not tolerate boredom well, or at all; without her primary source of amusement she was sure the witch would give up. His hand squeezed her shoulder and she pinched herself to keep from shuddering at the movement, but then she heard him walk out, shutting the door, leaving her blessedly alone.

The sun was shining through the window when she woke, its dull vermilion light reminding her she was still locked in Purgatory. She shut her eyes against it. It was too hard to be awake in this light, too hard to find energy in its dingy glow. Her limbs were too heavy, her mouth too cottony, her temples too tight with the memory of pain_. The only difference between Purgatory and Hell is the souls in Purgatory eventually get to leave,_ said the voice in her head that was remarkably like Lex's, calm and sure and only slightly impatient.

_Oh fuck off_, she told it, now being the only opportunity she would ever have to tell him that. The only way she would be able to say to his face that he and his plan both sucked would be in one of the regime's many prison cells. And that would never happen, because facing him there with her failure would be just like the day she'd had to explain to her father why he'd lost his job. Times maybe a billion.

She threw off the covers.

The hallway was empty when she stuck her head out of the door and occupied by the time she shut it. The tall woman, Alera, who had led the raid on Lana's hidey-hole appeared before her, oozing Amazonian contempt. "You're awake," the Amazon said. "Kal-El ordered that you were to be allowed to rest, but now that you are awake Secretary Mercer has told me to escort you immediately to the briefing room."

The Kryptonian took off at a leisurely speed available only to her species and possibly cheetahs. Chloe jogged to keep up. The formerly soft fuzziness of her sweatshirt slapped against the House of El sigal on her back as she ran, stinging like nettles. It was good to know they were all the same team now. All working together. She followed the woman down the stairs and back to the solar. "Wait here," Alera said, and then summarily abandoned her. Terrific. She hoped someone showed up soon to explain how being on the security team was qualitatively different from being held by the security team.

Well, she'd never been left alone as a prisoner, and definitely wouldn't have been in what seemed to be Tess' personal sanctuary. All the furniture - the tables, the chairs, that monstrosity of a vase - seemed extra antique and feminine in this room. They could have been left over from Lillian, or Lana, but the driftwood paperweight on the desk and a set of old nautical maps on the walls said Tess lived here now. She didn't quite know what to make of the toys, however. On one of the end tables next to the couch sat a wooden Noah's Ark with red-painted roof tiles and roses under its eaves, complete with a collection of paired animals: elephants and zebras, rabbits and porcupines, elk and moose, Holsteins and Rhode Island Reds, several breeds of dog and a set of bald eagles. Either Tess was secretly pulling a _Big_ on the world's population, or -

"You like it?" Speak of the devil, she thought as Tess entered the room.

"It's charming. I've never seen anything like it."

"It's an Erzebirge Ark, an old one. I think Lillian must have kept it in the nursery. I found it in storage, in a box marked 'Julian'." Tess fingered a wooden dromedary and Chloe's stomach turned. However Madelyn was transmitting her information, she prayed that did not make it through. "I always loved that story. In the end, everyone gets a new beginning."

"And a promise," Chloe blurted. Tess gave her a quizzical look. "The rainbow? The sign that God would never again destroy the Earth?" _Careful, Sullivan. Keep the irony out of your voice, would ya?_

Tess did not seem to have heard it, though. Instead she gave Chloe a sad smile. "No. He left that for us to do, didn't he?"


	16. Chapter 16

_"It's an Erzebirge Ark, an old one. I think Lillian must have kept it in the nursery. I found it in storage, in a box marked 'Julian'." Tess fingered a wooden dromedary and Chloe's stomach turned. However Madelyn was transmitting her information, she prayed that did not make it through. "I always loved that story. In the end, everyone gets a new beginning."_

_"And a promise," Chloe blurted. Tess gave her a quizzical look. "The rainbow? The sign that God would never again destroy the Earth?" Careful, Sullivan. Keep the irony out of your voice, would ya?_

_Tess did not seem to have heard it, though. Instead she gave Chloe a sad smile. "No. He left that for us to do, didn't he?"_

Jesus. How did one un-ironically answer a question like that? "I ... guess?"

If Tess had heard her choked inflection, she chose to ignore it. "We all have a purpose in life, although most of us never realize what that purpose is," she said. "I was lucky enough to be shown mine at a very young age. I didn't waste the time most people do. Like you did." She moved to the table where she had sat the day before and trailed her fingers over the vase there that was surely, if beauty was truth and truth beauty, the biggest lie ever told. She turned and sat, but did not invite Chloe to do so. "You do know what your purpose is, don't you?"

"To serve the House of El." Chloe hoped the slight rise in her voice at the end of that sentence signaled enthusiasm rather than uncertainty. Hadn't they covered this territory already?

"Of course it is," Tess said. "But how would you serve the House of El?"

"In any way I'm ordered." _Not really_, she told herself. Just until the House of El no longer tyrannized the earth. After last night she thought it was important she draw a clear mental line between who she was and ... what she had to do. Just in case.

"And in any way you haven't been?" Tess asked.

Chloe paused for a second, uncertain. In this place she was pretty sure the answer to that depended on who was giving the orders. "Have I done something wrong?" she asked.

"Do you think you've done something wrong?"

_Oh, this is bullshit_, Chloe thought. She had the freaking tattoo on her back. The time for word games was over. "No, I don't. But obviously I'm new here, so if there's an employee handbook I'd like the chance to read it before I'm dressed down for breaking a rule I didn't know existed."

"No." Tess shook her head. "You're not new here at all." She leaned back in her chair and stared at Chloe a few seconds before continuing. "I am told Kal-El spend the night in your room."

Ah. Now it was making sense. "I guess so. He left before I woke up."

"Really. Did he wear you out with lots of old school stories and 'remember when'?"

Chloe tried not to show her surprise. Wouldn't Tess know? Shouldn't her personal squad of super-powered Peeping Toms be able to tell her? She had assumed ...

_Never assume,_ Lex had said.

_Right_, she'd told him. _Because when you assume, you make an ass out_ -

_If you finish that statement I will have Nadia break your neck right now_.

_And here I thought we were starting to be friends._

_Which is why it would make me very sad to order your death. Don't think it wouldn't._

_Ok, _she thought. _I won't assume and I won't use stupid cliches. But seriously_ - "Do you really need to ask me that?" she blurted.

Arching a brow, Tess barked a tired little laugh. "Privacy is respected here. Kal-El's privacy is at least."

Which meant, possibly, that Tess' wasn't? Chloe stored that question away for later. In the here-and-now what mattered was that Tess was possibly in want of information: _What had Chloe gotten up to last night? Was Chloe even now incubating the long-desired Bridge-Between-the-Species Baby?_ She wasn't, unless Clark had re-engineered himself to contribute DNA through saliva, and if she wanted to live a little longer she should probably tell Tess that. Still, there was no reason to tell her everything. "We didn't have sex. If that's some other hazing rite around here I'm afraid it got skipped."

Tess rolled her eyes and relaxed almost imperceptibly. "Don't worry, you're still in the club," she said. "He doesn't usually involve himself with the new recruits at all. You're obviously a special case."

"That's what all my teachers told me."

"I'll bet they did." For a second she looked hesitant, then adopted a face of concern. "He didn't say or do anything that struck you as unusual, did he? Anything you might consider worrisome?"

_Only every word that spilled from his mouth_, Chloe thought. "Not any more so than usual," she answered.

Tess nodded. "So he didn't mention anything odd he planned to do?"

_Other than the obvious? No._ "He talked about wanting to increase food production using super-heated Kryptonite." Maybe it was the pride of knowing she had what Tess wanted, maybe it was the sheer stupidity of that scenario, but she leaned forward and added, "Please tell me you're not going to let him go through with that. You've got to know what a spectacularly idiotic idea it would be to expose your people to Black K."

"Oh, you needn't worry yourself over that," Tess continued, leaning forward herself. Chloe felt her jaw tighten and forced herself to relax. "What you do need to worry about is your immediate future. As in today. Did Kal-El say anything to you about his plans for today?"

_Wait - what?_ "You're telling me you don't know? Don't you have a schedule for him? Broadcasts, ribbon cuttings, baby kissings?"

_Shut it_, said Tess' hard gaze. "Usually. This morning it appears he has decided to improvise," said Tess' voice. "I'm sure you can imagine why this would be a matter for concern."

"Yes, I can see where it would be." This was worrisome, and not just for Tess. If he didn't reappear soon, that meant trouble with a capital "T" for her. As a recently recanted rebel, Chloe would have been suspect number one in this situation even if Kal-El hadn't decided to pay a call the night before. On the other hand, she had been under constant visual surveillance the entire time she'd been in the mansion. What could she have possibly done? Other than have a single unmonitored conversation with the planetary pooh-bah.

Which, she realized, gave her just the tiniest feeling of triumph. Not that she could be sure where the idiot had run off to, but the fact that Tess couldn't either was enormously satisfying. She didn't know when she'd entered into a competition with the spider across from her, but she had, and any disadvantage to Tess was a point for her. "He didn't mention specifics," she said with a smile. It would still be helpful to appear helpful. "It was all very general. He talked a lot about Lana." _Heh. Put that in your pipe and smoke it._

"Did he?" Tess asked, looking as unhappy as she sounded.

"At some length," Chloe said. Her smile broadened. It was cruel, really, considering Tess' earlier reaction, but for some reason she couldn't help herself. "You know how desperately he was in love with her."


	17. Chapter 17

_"He didn't mention specifics," she said with a smile. It would still be helpful to appear helpful. "It was all very general. He talked a lot about Lana." Heh. Put that in your pipe and smoke it._

_"Did he?" Tess asked, looking as unhappy as she sounded._

_"At some length," Chloe said. Her smile broadened. It was cruel, really, but for some reason she couldn't help herself. "You know how desperately he was in love with her."_

"Indeed I do." Tess stood and glanced at the vase again. "It's a difficult fact to ignore." She walked to where Chloe stood next to the Ark's display table. "And all the more interesting considering that Lana is missing as well." A hand far stronger than it deserved to be grabbed Chloe's opposite wrist and yanked. The yank pulled her into Tess, who pushed at her out-stretched shoulder, pivoting her in place and then doubling her over the table, tumbling the few figurines that weren't pressing painfully into her belly. Tess' weight seemed to be entirely on her shoulders, although there was an odd, heavy pressure on her tail-bone as well. She gasped against the suddenness of it all, her lungs preparing for the worst.

"Of course, it could all be just a coincidence," Tess said. "Naturally I was hoping you might provide some clarification." The pressure left her tail bone and moved upward to the curve of her lower back. Chloe screamed as Tess' knee ground itself into the raw skin of her tattoo and gasped again as it was lifted. "I'm sorry," Tess said. "I couldn't quite make that out." Outrage exploded in her. This bitch, who had no powers of her own, no magic, no authority but what she derived from letting that oaf –

Her next cry was more of a grunt of frustration than of pain. She'd gotten sloppy, lippy. She knew better than that. She'd wonder what had gotten into her, but she already knew. She apparently sucked at calmness and awareness – but who could have guessed a 16th-century psychotic would enjoy the same things she enjoyed, want the same things she wanted? Or maybe they didn't enjoy the same things. Maybe Chloe was enjoying the things Madelyn enjoyed. Maybe it was becoming all Madelyn.

Then she grunted out a laugh. No. Not yet. Not while having her hip bone knock against the corner of the table and her hamstrings screech like an out-of-tune violin while Tess went Gitmo on her back. This particular experience was all her. She dug her nails into the beds of her palms and her teeth into the swell of her lower lip and tried to welcome the pain.

"You're going to have to speak up," Tess said, and Chloe could feel the shift in her weight that signaled her knee was about to drill in again.

"I don't know," Chloe gritted through her teeth. "I told you, he didn't mention specif – " Tess' knee pressed into her spine and she yelled again.

"You were the last person he talked to before he left. Tell me what he said."

It was becoming a fight to breathe; there was no space to inhale against the table. No extra oxygen with which to be mouthy. "He was worried," she began, then paused to suck in more air, "she'd been infected by Brainiac. That's the Brain Inter – "

"I'm familiar with the concept. What else did he say?" Behind her, she could feel remaining tension. Tess was still poised for action.

"He wanted to be sure. He talked about taking her to Jor-El. For testing."

"You're lying," Tess said. "The Fortress is the last place he would take Lana."

"Jor-El's the only one," she panted. "Who'd know. For sure. Doesn't want. To kill her."

To her surprise, she felt the weight on her shoulders lifted as Tess stepped back. She scrambled off the table, scattering wooden animals as she heaved her stretched and throbbing back upright. "Alera," Tess said. The door opened and Alera stepped in. "Go," Tess told her. "Maintain your distance. Remember what happened to Av-Lor."

"I do," Alera said, and was gone. Chloe shivered in the gust her leaving created and wondered what had happened to Av-Lor.

"Is there anything else you'd like to share with the class?"

Chloe turned her whole stiff body around to face Tess. "Not really. He was worried about Lana. Other people have hobbies, he has that." It was not, perhaps, what Tess wanted to hear, but it was what Chloe wanted to say. Tess was supposed to want to believe her.

"I'll buy that," Tess said. "I'll be keeping my receipt, though. If Alera comes back and says they're not there I'm afraid I'll have to return that item."

_Oh, Kal-El, you stupid son of an ice palace. Would it have killed you to leave a damn note?_ "I told you, he didn't come out and say when he planned to take her there, just that he was considering it."

Tess quirked a brow and walked to the far wall, where her desk and her driftwood and all her other little maritime knick-knacks sat. "Well, if you do happen to remember anything else about that conversation, now would be the time to mention it."

Fortunately, no further "reminisces" were required, as Alera, with another gust, re-entered the room.

"He is there," she said. "The captive is with him. They both look well, although the captive did appear to be under examination."

"I don't suppose you heard anything they said?" Tess asked.

If Alera's face didn't seem entirely incapable of expression Chloe would have sworn she looked offended. "No words were spoken in the time that I was there."

"No, our luck couldn't possibly be that good," said Tess. "Return and monitor. Take a headset but run silent unless there's an emergency."

Alera nodded and disappeared again, leaving Chloe to shiver and Tess to frown. After a few seconds Tess opened a drawer and took out a small metal case. "So it appears that you were right after all," she said, opening the case. From it she pulled a small, dull gray box. _A lead box_, Chloe thought, and felt suddenly aware of the hairs on the back of her neck.

It was the Glock Tess pulled out next that caught her breath and tensed all her muscles for action.

"That is … quite illuminating," Tess continued, releasing the cartridge. "I'll admit, I was skeptical." She checked the sight, then the cartridge. "But I think now this just illustrates the importance of keeping an open mind." Reloading, she clicked the safety off, and aimed the gun straight at Chloe. "Wouldn't you agree?"


	18. Chapter 18

"No, I don't," Chloe answered. And to think she'd thought Madelyn was crazy... She shut her eyes, probably a bad move but she needed to focus. All the control she'd wheedled and worked so carefully for had been snatched from her, thanks to her mouth, and now they were back to death threats. So now it was her move, pawn to queen's three: what did Tess want? She opened her eyes. "I gave you my best guess. It was right. I don't know what more you expect from me."

"Some respect would be nice. I'm not an idiot, Chloe. Keeping Davis out of the Phantom Zone was your idea, not Kal-El's, and I would bet this gun against an hour in a holding cell with Alera that bringing Lana to the Fortress was your idea as well."

_Point noted._ _Madelyn? _"I think we've both given him a few ideas over the years," she said. Tess' nostrils flared. _Careful_. "And, I know we're not the only ones. Lana's been known to have an influence on him, and while that has had its downsides I know I am far more comfortable with a Kal-El who would prefer to leave a woman he has cared about alive than a Kal-El who kill her once he realizes what a threat she really is."

"Obviously," Tess replied. She did, however, click Glock's safety back on and tuck it into the waist-band of her cargoes. "I do hope you realize what happens now is on your head." She opened another drawer and pulled out another box, this one not noticeably made of lead, and pulled an ear-piece from it. "Rangi, report." She paused, waiting for a response, and added, "Bring my car to the side entrance. We're going to the Foregate."

_Half an hour later..._

County Road 30 hadn't gotten any smoother in the last year and a half, Chloe thought as the Jeep Rangi drove sped her and Tess to wherever it was the Foregate lay. In fact, she was pretty sure the potholes were the one life-form on the planet that had managed to be fruitful and multiply. Road maintenance was clearly not a priority of the Kal-El regime, even this close to home.

Nor were the pot-holes the only sign of crumbling infrastructure. Her earlier trip from Metropolis to the mansion had been in the back of an armored truck, so there hadn't been much of a view. This time she had a court-side seat to the decay of Lowell County. The houses and barns that hadn't been cratered into the ground were all on the verge of collapse. The army, when there was still something left that could be called an army, had hit Smallville hard. An assassination attempt that failed, the propagandists had said, but Chloe knew her Uncle Sam knew the futility of that. It had been revenge, the only kind the old man could get, and she couldn't in her heart of hearts blame him.

Still, so many land-marks were missing she barely knew where they were. Perhaps to show the world he couldn't be black-mailed Kal-El had left Smallville undefended. Or perhaps he truly didn't care the Wild Coyote had been destroyed and and the Hubbard's mud-room shower was on display for the whole world to see. _Did it mean so little to you? _She wondered. _If so then why the hell do you stay?_

As if the universe felt her rhetorical question deserved an answer, the Jeep pulled into a long-untilled field with a spiky protrusion running along the edge. Smooth and regular, the spikes glowed a dirty, rusty gray in the red light, as if absorbing rather than reflecting it. As the Jeep neared the protrusion it grew, and she could see it wasn't outcropping of any kind of rock indigenous to Kansas. It was part of a structure made, she was sure, of materials from a galaxy far, far away, and unless she had lost all sense of direction it covered the area of the Kawatche caves.

"What is this?" she asked.

Tess flicked a glance back at her from her position in the front passenger seat but otherwise ignored her. After a quick glance at Tess, Rangi answered: "This is the Foregate. I don't know how it was built. The Kandorians did it."

"Does it … _do_ anything?"

"It stands," Tess said. "Get out."

"You want me to come along?" Rangi answered.

"No. Alera's up there. I need you to keep watch down here, make sure no one else comes in. I'll contact you when we get there. If I'm not back an hour after that I want you to take the Jeep and go."

"What about her?"

Tess stared out the window a moment, then shrugged. "Your call. If she comes back alone she may be useful or she may make things more complicated. Just don't take too long to decide."

"Alright," he said slowly.

Tess smiled at him then, wryly enough that Chloe thought it must be genuine. "It's a little sooner than anticipated, but we've hit Ararat. Time for the floodwaters to recede."

"Yeah. I know." He glanced back at Chloe, his face troubled.

Tess turned to her as well. "Get out," she repeated. "You're coming with me."

Chloe schooched over to and stumbled out the rear driver door. If Tess was going to do anything she was going to have to work for it, she decided. Tess, however, was back to ignoring her, plunging down the hill to the large triangular opening that looked like the entrance. Beside her, Rangi out. "Best get a move on," he said. He looked calmer but his voice was harsher, and it occurred to her that now might be a good time to demonstrate her aptitude for usefulness.

"Good idea," she said, and took off after her. Her breath came faster than she would have expected with the light jog. The discussion of what to do with her if she came back had quickened it, she thought. _If _she came back. If she came back and Tess didn't. What did Tess expect to happen? What had she anticipated?

Something tickled in her mind, and something else chuckled in response. That was irritating. She hated being the only one who didn't get the joke.

"So. What was that all about?" she asked as she caught up. "That thing with the floodwaters. What did you mean by that?"

"It was a metaphor," Tess said, pulling the Glock from her waistband. "What did you think it was?"


	19. Chapter 19

_Well, of course it was. Seriously, did Tess think _she_ was an idiot?_ It was impossible to tell, as Tess had already put another ten yards between them. Whatever she planned to do, she apparently planned to do it in a hurry. Whatever she planned to do, it was going to be something big. Something that would cause the "floodwaters" to "recede". Her stomach squeezed and her hands clapped at the thought. _Wait - hand clapping? That was weird. _She shoved them in her pockets and followed Tess into the Foregate.

Like the Fortress, the Foregate was bathed in its own mysterious, internal glow, although in the case of the Foregate the effect was more sulfurous pit-of-hell than ethereal and other-worldly. Like the destruction of the landscape above, the light rendered the caves almost unrecognizable. Tess had swept in and gone left, Chloe was sure, but that was the last she'd seen of her. She slowed, following her instinct and praying it was right as she shuffled along. Tess hadn't specified why they were here, but at this point there was really only one reason to go to the caves, and in lay in the center of the system.

When she got there Tess was waiting. She looked impatient and determined, as only Tess could, flat-eyed and focused. She held herself taut, the gun in both hands and pointed down and away from her body. She too was waiting for something big, only she was ready to shoot it when it happened.

"We're here," Chloe said. Tess, who had been warily scanning the crystal ceiling overhead, continued to do so. "Now what?"

Tess nodded toward the stone altar in the center of the cave. "If he's gone to the Fortress, he'll have to come back to this cave." Chloe glanced at it and saw the key, which in her experience had so often been conveniently left behind, was not in its usual slot. If he had gone to the Fortress, he had learned to lock the door behind him – another indicator of caution for which she was sure Tess had only herself to blame.

"So we wait," she said.

"Oh, yes," Tess answered. "We wait. But not in here." She took up a spot just outside the entrance to the inner cave and Chloe, having unwittingly stood in the wrong place at the right time before, could see her point. The outer chamber had the added benefit of offering plenty of room to pace, which she began to do immediately and vigorously. She knew, in her rational mind, that between Tess' gun and whatever Tess decided to do with it she had a coma patient's chance in a zombie apocalypse of surviving this day, but at some point recently the volume for her rational mind had been turned down and the speakers for her irrational self had turned up. Her irrational self wanted to clap her hands and do little jigs in the dirt. Not that she knew how to jig, or why she would want to. She knew she should be seeking calm and clarity and maybe after three days she would achieve it, but for now the best she could manage was the pacing.

Tess certainly did not have this problem. She maintained her stance, eyes roving the walls and the ceiling for what she only knew. Chloe had no idea how long she crawled the walls and Tess watched them; her watch had been taken from her at the security station and, as in the pantry, the wait had its own distorted units of time, measured in steps and breaths and repressed screams. When the light of Kal-El's return did appear, her back was to it and it was only in the suddenly stark outline of the surrounding rock that she saw it. When she turned, Kal-El and Lana were standing next to the table, hands entwined, eyes glued on each other.

It was Lana who saw them first, her pretty startle causing Kal-El to follow. His nostrils flared and Chloe hugged herself in anticipation. "Tess? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"We missed you at the morning meeting," Tess said.

A mask of authority fell over his face. "There were matters that required my immediate attention."

"We've discussed this. It's not safe for you to go off on your own. No matter what the … occasion."

"Tess, I – "

"Don't bother." Tess lifted the gun and fired: one, two, three shots. Three splotches of red sprung up on Clark's chest, shoulder, belly. Lana screamed, Clark dropped, and Chloe shook in what she realized was laughter.

"Shut up," Tess told someone. Lana, apparently, because when she kept screaming Tess walked over and slapped her. After that she stopped, leaving a ringing silence behind.

"Get the key," Tess snapped. At her now, apparently, because when she kept shaking and puffing Tess snapped again: "Find it! He'll have it somewhere on him!"

_The key? Oh God. The key._ _She should … she should get it..._ she stumbled toward the groaning heap that was Kal-El of Krypton. Her hands and knees were shaking the way they had when she walked into the library to receive her judgment. This time, though, it was he who was on the ground, slumped against the side of the altar like a sack of sweet corn, his eyes wide and pleading.

"Ch-, Chlo, Chl..."

"Sssshhh," she lifted the trembling fingers of own hand to his lips while patting him down with the other. "You're gonna be ok. We're gonna get you to help." Her questing hand hit something solid and flat in his right jacket pocket. _Bingo._ "We're going to take you back to Jor-El."

His eyes relaxed and he nodded. She rose and lifted her eyes to Tess'. The other woman nodded in acknowledgment. So far so good.

She stepped over Clark, glanced back to make sure Tess was close enough, and inserted the key into the altar. Light obliterated the cavern.


End file.
